Their breeding habitat is wet temperate coniferous forests and muskeg across Canada, New England, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Adirondack Mountains in New York and Alaska.

These birds migrate to the eastern and southeastern United States, into parts of the Grain Belt, sometimes straying into Mexico.

Their most common mode of foraging is to vigorously flip leaves and rip at submerged aquatic vegetation.

The habitat loss is likely due to multiple factors, including development for oil, gas, and mining industries, hydroelectric projects, and the clearing of forests for forestry.

Rarer than previously believed, it was uplisted from a species of Least Concern to Vulnerable status on the 2007 IUCN Red List.

[5] In the eastern part of its range, acid rain may be decreasing the availability of calcium-rich invertebrates that the rusty blackbird depends on for food.

The International Rusty Blackbird Working Group has been actively coordinating and conducting research on this species since 2005.